Googlicious

Take over 300 attendees, 27 presenters, 55 workshops and 0 pages of paper, put it together and you get a Google Summit at Charlottesville, Virginia, 2013. Dedicated to all things Google, the sessions covered topics from “Getting Started” to “Google Ninja”, there was something for everyone. There were also many DEN Stars presenting for the day.

What I learned in two days is amazing. Molly Schroeder, the summit organizer, recommended that you put three things on your plate. One new thing you can use right away, one new thing you plan to try in a month or so and a third new skill you would like to use in the next 6 months to a year.

By the end of my first session I had found gold. There are over 500 changes a year to different parts of the Google experience. One item in particular I enjoyed was Pin Tabs. You can set certain tabs to automatically open and always be on the left side of your Chrome browser in a mini tab environment. For example if you always want immediate access to email, Drive and Calendar, first open them in different tabs. Hold control and click on the tab and see a mini menu. Select Pin Tab and it will immediately create the mini tab and move it to the left. Try this so that DiscoveryEducation.com is one of your auto tabs!

There are so many Google Extensions and Apps you can use to make your browsing experience easier. Go to the Chrome Store and on the left side of the page you can choose from categories or Trending, Popular or From Your Circles. Choosing From Your Circles will show you apps or extensions used by people in your Google+ circles. That seems like a good place to start if you trust your G+ friends! It will even tell you who has it installed!

Here are some apps and extensions you should check out:

Doctopus

FormEmailer

InputTools

gClassFolders gClassHub

Desmos Graphing Calculator

Chrome Remote

Google Dictionary

Awesome screen shot

goo.gl URL shortener +QR creator

LastPass – Password keeper

WEVideo

Eyedropper extension

PicMonkey

WebCam Toy

Feedly – to replace Google Reader

Presentation Remote

QuickNote

Kindle reader

Lucid chart

Jam

20 things I learned about browsers and the web

Biteslide

Timers

Chrome WebLab – work inside a museum in London

Find your way to OZ

SumoPaint

Word of the Day

So the next rainy day, get comfortable and explore several of these apps and extensions to use with Google Chrome. Who knows you may even discover another hidden gem. If you have any other suggestions, add it in your comments below!

2 Comments

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